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!CLICK SONG (1982)
This, I believe, is my best novel to date. I did everything I wished
to do in this book in terms of manipulating time, creating structure,
making historical journeys and corrections, and removing the concept
of publishing from quiet, dark offices to glitz and bottom-line
business. I also believe the statement I wanted to make about
black American artists and their lives came through loud and clear.
Most of the reviews were good, but it did not get a paperback
sale until 1987 when Thunder's Mouth Press reissued it.
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!CLICK
SONG. Original typescript, with author's corrections and additions.
Uncollated sheets. |
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!CLICK SONG. Boston: Houghton Mifflin (1982). First edition, proof copy. |
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Houghton Mifflin's promotional flyer for !Click Song. |
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!CLICK SONG. Boston: Houghton Mifflin (1982). First edition, in dust jacket. Signed by Williams. |
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American Book Award, 1983. Presented to Williams by the Before Columbus
Foundation for "excellence in Literature." |
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Advertisement for Williams's speech on 24 February (1983?) as a part of the Paul Robeson Scholar Project at Livingston College, Rutgers University.
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Advertisement for Williams's speech on 25 March (1983?) as a part of the Hall of Fame Celebrity Series at Bronx Community College.
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!CLICK SONG. New York: Thunder's Mouth Press (1987). First paperback reprint edition. |
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LAST FLIGHT FROM AMBO BER (1983)
Last Flight from Ambo Ber is what I call "a telling play,"
because it covers more time than Aristotle says it should, has
more characters, and has more to do with race and politics than
with fate.
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LAST FLIGHT FROM AMBO BER. Acting Script (offset from typescript). |
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LAST
FLIGHT FROM AMBO BER. Program of production presented by
People's Theater, in Cambridge, Mass., for the Theatre in
Process series of new plays. November 1981. |
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LAST FLIGHT FROM AMBO BER. Pelham, N.Y.: American Association for Ethiopian Jews (1983). First edition. Original wrappers.
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THE BERHAMA ACCOUNT (1985)
Like
Mothersill and the Foxes, this novel was supposed to
be funny, funnier than Mothersill. Curiously, editors
said this wasn't a "John Williams novel." I think this
meant that I was supposed to produce heavy stuff all the time.
In desperation, I used a pen name, Gian Viggiani (the protagonist
is Italian). But, then everyone was saying, "Aw, this is
a first novel, and who the hell is Viggiani anyway." This
is a political novel about public relations hustlers on a Caribbean
island - a situation I am not unfamiliar with. Finally, a small
publisher did the book, which was not widely reviewed. I don't
think the production of the book helped us; it is very badly done.
I still think that The Berhama Account is a funny book
waiting for something good to happen to it.
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THE BERHAMA ACCOUNT. Far Hills, N.J.: New Horizon Press (1985).
First edition, in dust jacket.
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